Leibniz
Leibniz (stylized as LEIBNIZ and "The Nomad Berserker") is an antagonist character from Blaster Master Zero 2. He is the pilot of NORA MA-07 Garuda. His support droid (named Lucia) was lost during events before the game and he is not seen with a support lifeform of any sort. Physical Appearance Leibniz wears dark-blue-black armor, with purple highlights around his chest, shoulders, head, and legs. His face is covered by a mask with glowing purple eyes that allows his long grey-silver hair to hang down from behind his head. An energy blade extends from his right arm, which is his main hand for launching attacks. His off-arm tends to be the defensive one that deploys the Vector Reflector. Attached to a rope around his neck is a choker, like the ones support droids wear. Close examination reveals great similarities to the one Eve wears. Personality Leibniz's behavior before the fall of Area G is unknown. By the time the game begins, Leibniz is already fairly broken as a person. He expresses a great disdain for support droids, referring to them as "dolls" and "puppets", even questioning Jason for holding sentiment for a "defective" such as Eve. Despite his abrasiveness, Leibniz slightly reveals a fragile interior in Area Ω, when Elfie's appearance (and the revelation that she is no more than a spirit) peels away some layers to reveal a man who hasn't really come to terms with the loss of his partner. Plot Role Pre-game Leibniz was once an inhabitant of Area G, piloting Garuda alongside his support droid Lucia. Some time before Blaster Master Zero 2, mutants attacked his home planet, turning it into the planet-sized mutant Planade-G. Lucia became a casualty of battle (though whether this was during or after Planade-G's conception is unspecified), leaving only her collar as a memento. Broken and dispirited, Leibniz wanders the cosmos, attacking anything he comes across, be it mutants or even other MA pilots. It is unknown how exactly Leibniz can keep a top of the line MA like Garuda in such good condition despite the loss of his support droid, but it is presumed that he either had the tech savvy to begin with or he developed it over the course of his wanderings. Blaster Master Zero 2 Some time before Jason and Eve land on Planet Stranga, Leibniz flies by and attacks Kanna. While the pilot of Eir manages to fend him off, the encounter ends with Kanna developing the logic of "other MA pilots equals enemies", and she attacks the Gaia-SOPHIA on sight. Leibniz first shows up in Area D, where he blindsides G-Sophia and forces a landing on an unmapped planetoid. His appearance is marked by him calling Jason an odd one for "clinging" to Eve despite her mutant infection, calling her a "defective doll" and antagonizing Jason. Upon Garuda suffering major damage, Eve will hack Garuda's OS for Planetoid G-1's location, but Leibniz quickly locks her out. He then retreats to Planetoid D-3, lying in wait for the Earthling pilot. Leibniz next appears on Planetoid G-1, talking about how much he's heard about Jason and mockingly proclaiming "Now you've come all the way out here, to save Area G..." Before his on-foot rematch on Planetoid G-3, he reveals small portions of his backstory, how Planade-G destroyed his home, and how he will break everything Jason has out of some misguided idea of it'd be better for him to take it than to let Planade-G devour it. Leibniz's next appearance varies depending on whether or not the player has all the Emblems. Bad Ending Out in space around after Sophia's dimensional tunnel flings the G-Sophia crew across Area Omega, Leibniz intercepts a fragmented distress call from Earth, asking Jason to help against a mutant invasion, but soon cuts out to static. He muses to himself about how alike he and Jason are, now that Jason is also without his partner or his home planet. His mocking laughter and subsequent silence are the last things witnessed as the game fades back to the title screen. True Ending Leibniz finds a lone Eve, vulnerable and perfect for scrapping, until he is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of Elfie and Andreia. Shaken by Elfie's revelations (and some of her words cutting deep), he reveals the purpose of the Emblems to Eve, then flies off, stating he has business to attend to. After the ending, where Jason and Eve gaze upon planet Sophia, Leibniz appears in an epilogue. Earth is transmitting a distress call to G-Sophia, but this time it comes through loud and clear. Gazing over the Earth, Leibniz ponders on how none of the protagonists have noticed Earth's plight. He considers the prospect of going to their aid and being "the big hero this time around" in hopes of further pushing Jason's buttons. With a "Let's go...Lucia...", Garuda rockets towards Earth. Boss Strategy After initially accosting Jason with Garuda upon Gaia-SOPHIA's first approach to Area D, Leibniz is fought in person on Planetoid D-3. His boss arena is surprisingly wide for a top-down boss, and he has no qualms about using as much of it as necessary to dispatch the Earthling pilot. * Leibniz's first attack is typically an evasive whirling dash (similar to a properly timed Reflex Striker) to the rear of Jason's previous facing direction before shocking him with a three block-long energy whip. Counter frames pop up just before the whip comes out; Reflex Striker is the safer option due to not running right into the whip on execution. * The melee strike is usually followed by Leibniz withdrawing before throwing an energy chakram. As it is evaded, Leibniz will whirl to its outside and reflect it back towards Jason. At lower HP levels, he'll attempt more and more reflections. The chakram itself can be nulled by Jason's own Absorber and turned into a sizable CP nugget. * Finally, taking position on either the left or right side of the room, Leibniz will deploy the Vector Reflector, trapping any shots fired at him in a whirlwind for five seconds before redirecting them at Jason. Leibniz is himself invincible during execution (not even entering the field and breaking out the Whip counteracts this), but allows a narrow counter window when dispelling the barrier. * During his rematch on Planetoid G-3, Leibniz will interrupt the cycle at critical levels by calling in a Remote Blast from Garuda. This has a particularly narrow evade window, consisting of either a narrow horizontal or vertical bar in the middle of the screen. Avoid dragging the fight into the corners late. Upon initial defeat, Leibniz will question Jason's motives for not killing either him or his defective Support Droid before surrendering the Vector Reflector to round out the Blast Counter options. Category:Blaster Master Zero 2 Category:Characters Category:Bosses